Taxpayers fund lavish airport to nowhere - revisited

There is a state-of-the-art airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (population 23,000) that has few travelers but gets a lot of federal funding.

Inside the terminal on a recent weekday, four passengers lined up to board a flight, outnumbered by seven security staff members and supervisors, all suited up in gloves and uniforms to screen six pieces of luggage.

For three hours that day, no commercial or private planes took off or landed. Three commercial flights leave the airport on weekdays, all bound for Dulles International Airport.

The photo above shows the security check-in area at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., where the security staff members sometimes outnumber the passengers.

What keeps this pristine, little used facility going is $200 million in federal funds in the past decade. And all thanks John Murtha (pictured) who is a powerful and corrupt Washington Congressman.

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) is credited with securing at least $150 million for the airport.

It was among the first in the country to win funding from this year's stimulus package: $800,000 to repave a backup runway.

Murtha, dubbed the King of Pork by critics, consistently directs more federal money to his district than any other congressman -- $192 million in the 2008 budget.

The lawmaker, who uses the airport frequently during his campaigns, has steadily steered millions of taxpayer dollars to it to build a new terminal with a restaurant; a long, concrete runway sturdy enough to handle large jets; and a high-tech radar system usually reserved for international airports.

A video of this little-used state-of-the-art airport can be found here. More of this story is here.